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Dance and older people

Today older people enjoy a whole range of dance activities. Older adult classes are increasingly available with more dance teachers realising that there are lots of older people who want to dance and be active.

There are differences between teaching say, children’s ballet and teaching ballet to older adults. Equally, with other dance genres such as tap, Jazz dance and the other theatre styles there are adjustments to be made to suit the needs of the people you teach. Social dance genres such as ballroom, Latin, sequence, Salsa and so on have been offering dance classes for older adults for many decades but even these genres need to consider the needs of their participants when choosing appropriate dances and dance content for them.

Another social dance genre that many older adults enjoy is Line dancing and just as with all the other dance genres, it is vital to consider the needs and abilities of those you are teaching when choosing dance content, pace of teaching, tempo of music and so on. Making dance classes for older people inclusive and not exclusive is important to avoid them feeling that they cannot join in. As our older adults getting older, their needs and abilities change and if we respond to these changes by adapting how we teach and the dance content we give them we can help our older dancers to enjoy and get the benefits of dancing for longer.